§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what are the total board and lodging costs per annum in all NHS hospitals; and how much revenue would be yielded by a charge on patients of 50p per 24 hour stay in hospital;
(2) what are the average costs of lodging a patient in a NHS hospital for one night and seven nights, respectively;
(3) what are the average costs for boarding a patient in a NHS hospital for a day and a week, respectively.
§ Mr. MoyleIt is not practicable to isolate board and lodging from the many other facilities and services necessarily provided in hospital and it is not separately costed. One element of the cost, however, is expenditure on catering which, for patients in all hospitals in England in 1975–76, is estimated to have 451W been approximately £146 million, an average of £1.30 per patient per day. The estimated gross annual revenue, less deductions that are already made from social security benefits, from a charge on patients of 50p per 24 hour stay in NHS hospitals in England would be about £8 million a year. This is based on the utilisation of hospital beds in 1975, and makes certain assumptions about exemptions—for example, for children, those on low incomes, and the chronically sick. However, the actual saving to public expenditure if such a charge were to be introduced would be much less, as there would be considerable administrative costs.
§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the average board and lodging costs per 24hour period payable in private hospitals and nursing homes.
§ Mr. MoyleMy Department does not collect information about charges to patients in private nursing homes and hospitals. I understand, however, that these vary from one home to another depending on the nature of the treatment and range of services provided.